Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The cause for sainthood of Father Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, took another step forward this week, with the submission of a supplemental report on a potential miracle attributed to the priest’s intercession.

The Knights of Columbus announced today that officials from a supplemental tribunal of the Archdiocese of Hartford –of which Fr. McGivney was a parish priest- formally sent a new report to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The information gathered by the tribunal included testimonies from witnesses to the supposed miracle as well as the statements of several medical doctors about the circumstances surrounding the reported miracle.

The small ceremony in which the new report was signed and presented to Archbishop Henry Mansell was attended by Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, other Supreme Officers, three relatives of Father McGivney and a number of archdiocesan officials.

The submission of the new report “marks an important step forward. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints will now have valuable additional testimony that clarifies and adds significantly to the original submission,” Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said.

“Father McGivney’s beatification would be an important event,” Anderson added, “not only for Knights of Columbus, but for the many thousands of parish priests who quietly do the Lord’s work in parishes each day and regard him as an outstanding example for priests everywhere. In this ‘Year for Priests’ it is an especially appropriate step forward.”

The cause for Father McGivney’s sainthood was opened by Hartford Archbishop Daniel A. Cronin in December 1997. The cause was presented to the Vatican in 2000, and Pope Benedict XVI declared him “Venerable” in March, 2008.

Father McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882 and died in 1890 at the age of 38.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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An African Catholic leader visiting Columbus in late September said the chief concern among bishops of his continent who will gather at the Vatican in October involves maintaining the unity of the church in the midst of ethnic disputes in several nations.

"This is something that cuts across national borders and affects all of us in Africa, even if we aren't directly involved," said Cardinal Peter Turkson of Cape Coast, Ghana.

"Our ethnic differences are a good and beautiful thing, which God bestowed to show how his image can be seen in many ways," he added. "They're nobody's 'fault,' yet they have become a great stumbling block hindering the cohesiveness that needs to exist in the church."

As examples, Cardinal Turkson cited disputes in Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria and Kenya that together have resulted in the deaths and forced resettlement of millions of people.

"Politicians have made use of this to further their own ends and to cause division, creating a tremendous challenge to our efforts as Catholics to be part of one great family in the strong tradition of African families," he said in an interview with The Catholic Times, newspaper of the Columbus Diocese.

The cardinal said that, during the Synod of Bishops for Africa at the Vatican Oct. 4-25, the African bishops also planned to spend considerable time discussing relations between Muslims and Christians on the continent.

"Historically, Islam and Christianity have existed peacefully alongside each other, but the last few decades have brought to some places a type of Islam different than what we're used to," said the cardinal, who will be the synod's recording secretary. "This is a more aggressive form, one which seems to have more of a spirit of competition than cooperation and wants to make its presence known through building mosques that say 'We're here.'"

Cardinal Turkson, who at age 61 is Africa's youngest cardinal, said relations between the two religions in his own nation always have been cordial, and he anticipates they will remain that way.

He said the church throughout Africa also is facing a challenge from evangelical Protestants who are trying to recruit Catholics to join their churches. This situation also exists in the United States, where he said it's not unusual for people to leave the church after coming from Africa as Catholics because they find an evangelical church which has made an effort to appeal to them.

"This is not something to bemoan," he said. "It's actually a healthy situation which provides us with an opportunity to better discover how we should respond to these efforts."

He said it shows that Catholics need to go beyond the "notional Christianity" of intellectually accepting the church's teachings to a deeper form of faith characterized by a personal conversion experience.

"When I talk about the need for conversion, I don't want to scare people," he said. "Not all of us have a dramatic conversion experience like St. Paul on the road to Damascus.

"For most of us, conversion comes as it did to St. Peter, in a way where sometimes you stumble and sink, until one day you realize you have found the Lord," he said. "That was how my conversion experience occurred. It resulted in a decision to make more and more room in my life for grace, for the presence of the Lord."

During his Sept. 19-22 stay in Columbus, Cardinal Turkson took part in a prayer service and two Sunday Masses at St. Anthony Church, including the monthly Mass celebrated by the central Ohio Ghanaian Catholic community in the Twi dialect of the Akan language of Ghana. About 200 people from central and southwest Ohio attended the Mass.

He also met Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman and other city officials at City Hall and was honored by the City Council at the Ghanaian Mass, with the council president, Mike Mentel, presenting him a framed certificate and symbol of Columbus. In addition, he spoke to students at the Pontifical College Josephinum and took part in an hourlong live interview on St. Gabriel Radio.

"A lot of things are happening I didn't expect," he said. "I thought this would be a quiet visit, but it seems my presence is being shouted from the rooftops. That's how my life has changed since becoming a cardinal."+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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Spain's Socialist government Saturday approved controversial reforms to the country's abortion law which would allow women as young as 16 to undergo the procedure without parental consent.

The proposal was passed at a cabinet meeting despite strong opposition from the Roman Catholic Church, the conservative opposition Popular Party and even many supporters of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialist Party.

The measure now will to go to parliament for approval, Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told a news conference.

Under the proposed reforms, abortions would be allowed for women of 16 and over on demand up to the 14th week of pregnancy, and up to 22 weeks if there is a risk to the mother's health or if the foetus is deformed.

Women can also undergo the procedure after 22 weeks if the foetus has a serious or incurable illness.

"We want to offer minors as much protection as possible and the most respect for their basic rights," said de la Vega.

The existing law introduced in 1985, a decade after the death of right-wing dictator Francisco Franco, only allows abortion in cases of rape, fetal malformation and when a pregnant woman's mental or physical health is deemed to be at risk if the pregnancy goes to term.

The Popular Party has said it will challenge the reforms in the Constitutional Court, and the Spanish Family Forum, a coalition of Catholic groups, said it would stage a demonstration against abortion on October 17 in Madrid.

Popular Party spokeswoman Soraya Saenz de Santamaria condemned the reforms which she said "go against to the feelings of the vast majority of women and of parents."

An opinion poll carried out last June said 64 percent of people oppose the measure allowing 16-year-olds to have abortions without parental consent.

Among Socialist supporters, 56 percent said they opposed the move, according to the Metroscopia poll of 1,000 people carried out for the left-wing newspaper El Pais.

Zapatero has defended the changes, saying the state should not "intervene in the free and private decision of a woman, who is the one who has to take on the responsibility of a pregnancy during her entire life."

The prime minister has passed a series of sweeping social reforms since coming to power in 2004 that have angered the Roman Catholic Church.

He has pushed through legislation legalising gay marriage, allowing for fast-track divorces and giving increased rights to transsexuals, among other changes.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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Czech Roma are disappointed at Catholic church and its head, Pope Benedict XVI for not having stood up against a wave of violence by neo-Nazis, Roma Realia group said in a press release passed to CTK Saturday.

The Catholic church is ignoring neo-Nazi and nationalist activities targeted against Romanies, Roma Realia said.

"We are witnesses of a historical moment when Romanies are being betrayed by the Vatican in the form of silence and no statements, although the head of the Catholic church is now on a visit to the Czech Republic," Vaclav Miko, a representative of Roma Realia and the Movement of Romany Resistance in the Czech Republic, said.

The Movement turned to the Pope in the spring, asking him to open a discussion on the position of Romanies in Europe.

In early September, it asked for an audience with the Pope during his visit, but the plea was allegedly dismissed.

Miko said Romanies made up the smallest strata of Czech population and "are constant targets of anti-Gypsy feelings arising from a racial and cultural bias."

"The situation of Romanies is so serious that they are unable to face neo-Nazis's attacks as the executive power is unable to provide security to Romanies," Miko said.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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The head of the Vatican congregation that ordered a comprehensive study of U.S. institutes of women religious has asked the U.S. bishops to contribute funds to offset the projected $1.1 million cost of the study.

The request came in a letter from Cardinal Franc Rode, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Dated July 14, the letter was made public Sept. 28 by the National Catholic Reporter, an independent Catholic newspaper based in Kansas City, Mo.

The study, known as an apostolic visitation, was authorized by Pope Benedict XVI in November 2008 and was expected to last three years.

“Because this apostolic visitation is so very important for safeguarding and promoting consecrated life in the United States, it is also imperative that it be methodically and efficiently conducted,” Cardinal Rode wrote. “I am asking you, my brother bishops, for your help in offsetting the expenses which will be incurred by this work for the future of apostolic religious life in the United States.”

The cardinal said the $1.1 million budget would cover “the three years which the total work of the apostolic visitation will require.”

Part of the study of U.S. women religious involves a questionnaire distributed to 341 congregations Sept. 18. Included were questions about membership, living arrangements, the ministries in which members participate, and spiritual life, including the practice of prayer and the frequency of Mass.

“The questionnaire is an extremely important part of the process of the visitation requested by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life,” wrote Mother Mary Clare Millea, the apostolic visitator charged by the Vatican with directing the study, in a letter accompanying the survey.

Mother Clare, superior general of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, said July 28 that answers on the questionnaire will help determine which congregations will receive a visit by an apostolic visitation team.

The visits are expected to begin in the spring and continue throughout 2010, Mother Clare said in the letter accompanying the questionnaire.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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Kenyan clerics will not play a leading role in the second synod of Catholic bishops set to begin next week in the Vatican.

According to reports from a Catholic news agency, CISA, Pope Benedict (XVI) has named participants to the meeting of bishops, but left out Kenyan clergy, including John Cardinal Njue.

The dispatch from CISA shows a list of bishops from other African countries, but none from Kenya.

Those from Kenya were priests and lay people some of who are scholars from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Strathmore University and Hekima Theological College, among others.

However, the Kenya Catholic Secretariat denied the reports.

“I have official confirmation that the bishops, nominated by the Pope’s representative in Kenya, will be attending the meeting,” the secretary-general of Kenya Episcopal Conference, Fr Vincent Wambugu, told the Daily Nation.

Special assembly

He said Cardinal Njue would lead a team comprising bishops Zacchaeus Okoth (Kisumu), Boniface Lele (Mombasa), Peter Kairo (Nyeri), Martin Kivuva (Machakos) and Philip Sulumeti (Kakamega) to the Vatican meeting.

Last Friday, the Catholic news agency’s bulletin carried a list of bishops, auditors and experts appointed by the pontiff to attend the meeting.

The synod is a special assembly of top Catholic clergy and experts on social challenges facing the church in the continent.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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Priests must guard against becoming limited to sacramental ministry and must help lay Catholics take up their duty to try to solve "the massive problems we are facing," Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles said in a talk at the University of Notre Dame.

"As a leader of a faith community of co-responsibility, the ordained priest best serves his people by promoting their royal priesthood at a moment of world crisis," he said.

The cardinal's Sept. 18 address stressed the importance of the baptismal priesthood -- the role of every Catholic in the church's ministry -- during the Year for Priests, which Pope Benedict XVI opened June 19.

"The priest's ministry is not focused solely on the celebration of the Eucharist and other sacraments," Cardinal Mahony said. "He, too, is called to work toward integral human development at the heart of a renewed social order.

"But his part in this mission lies primarily in teaching and in guiding those who are intimately and integrally involved in the various spheres and disciplines that must interact with one another in finding solutions in response to the needs and exigencies of our age," he added.

Cardinal Mahony said the understanding of ministry in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles "has been guided by several important documents," beginning with "As I Have Done for You," a 2000 pastoral letter co-written by the priests of the archdiocese and himself. Other documents on ministry built on that foundation later in the decade, he said, and the documents of the 2003 archdiocesan synod set six pastoral initiatives to direct the life of the church for years to come.

Those documents and others produced at the Second Vatican Council have brought about "a better understanding that the priestly ministry is not only for the purpose of celebrating Mass, hearing confessions, anointing the sick and dying, and officiating at marriages," the cardinal said.

"The priest is ordained to be a leader within a community of co-responsibility, all of whose members are given gifts in baptism, strengthened in confirmation and nourished week by week or day by day in the celebration of the Eucharist," he added.

Cardinal Mahony warned that the current U.S. church trend toward the merger, twinning or clustering of parishes that are then sometimes headed by a lay or religious parish life director could lead to a view of the priest "as a sacramental provider who enters and exits the parish or parishes to provide for their sacramental life and then moves on."

But such a view shortchanges the priest's role as "what we might call a 'traditioning agent,'" who passes on the tradition and teachings of the church, "communicating them effectively so that others might live and pass them on to the next generation," he said.

"Such an understanding of the priest ... calls for a deeper commitment in both initial and ongoing formation of priests to a deeper appreciation of the need to be soaked and saturated in Scripture, tradition and the church's teachings as they bear upon the pressing needs and exigencies of the people of our age," the cardinal said.

With Pope Benedict's recent encyclical, "Caritas in Veritate" ("Charity in Truth"), "the church has given moral authority to efforts to work out a solution to the massive problems we are facing, particularly as these affect the poor of the earth, who are not to be considered a burden, but a resource," Cardinal Mahony said.

But the priest's role in helping the laity to solve those problems does not mean telling people what to do, he said.

"Rather, he must 'learn the tricks,' or develop a savoir-faire for working in a community of co-responsibility for the life and mission of the church," the cardinal said.

"The priest's teaching efforts are to be directed not only to the life of the church, but must offer encouragement, guidance and support for the baptismal priesthood as the lay faithful seek to establish a community of nations more in keeping with the vision we find in 'Caritas in Veritate' and in the church's teaching on social and other matters," he added.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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Almost none – that is how Cardinal Vlk, Prague's archbishop, assessed his number of successes in office over the last twenty years or so.

When first appointed, back in 1991, a much younger Miloslav Vlk questioned whether he would have enough strength for the tasks ahead, tasks which remain unresolved to this day.

Which are they?

One, the restitution of church assets from the state which remains undecided, although the church and previous government agreed on a return of one-third of property confiscated by the Communists in 1948, along with 270 billion crowns in damages.

Two, also unresolved, ownership of Prague’s St Vitus cathedral – still disputed after 17 years in court. And three, no treaty signed between the Czech Republic and the Vatican –making the Czech Republic the last country in Europe without one.

In an interview with Czech TV’s Václav Moravec on Sunday, the cardinal, otherwise in good spirits over Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the Czech Republic, admitted, this was his worst “nightmare” realised:

“This is what weighs most heavily on my conscience because de facto after 20 years say on the Czech ecclesiastic-political level I achieved next to nothing… Property restitution has been put on hold, an amendment on the Church law has not been passed, St Vitus Cathedral remains in the hands of the state and there is no treaty between Prague and the Vatican. I will have to pass these debts onto my successor.”

Many observers would argue that the cardinal was unduly harsh in his self-criticism; but not all. When asked about the subject the No.2 man in the Vatican, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, agreed Cardinal Vlk’s words were true.

In his own defence, in the Czech TV interview, Cardinal Vlk stressed that political conditions throughout much of his tenure had not been in his favour, and made clear he alone could not be blamed. For years successive Czech governments, he said, had resisted agreement on issues, everything from the Vatican treaty to restitution.

“My success or failure depended on political realities. The Church was always willing to find agreement, of this I am certain. I was there so I can confirm it. But there was never will on the side of the politicians. Now they bustle to get close to the pope or to have their photograph taken next to him. There was little goodwill on the part of the politicians over the last 20 years: on the contrary they pushed the Church to the side, saying we shouldn’t be economically or politically strong.”

It is not known who will succeed Cardinal Vlk in office yet – a move expected by the end of the year - but there is wide-spread speculation it could be the head of the Czech Bishops’ Conference Archbishop Jan Graubner.

As for those unresolved issues?

The Vatican’s Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone met with Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer during the pope’s visit at the weekend, making clear, for example, that the restitution of property was not the issue of the day given the economic crisis and would be put on the backburner.

A moral standpoint those in the Church, including Cardinal Miloslav Vlk of course readily agreed with.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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Pope Benedict XVI is likely to visit Birmingham as part of his planned trip to the UK in 2010, a leading figure in the city's archdiocese has said.

The Pope is expected to visit the city as part of the planned beatification of Cardinal John Newman, Father Marcus Stock said.

The director of education said the beatification was likely to be in the city where Cardinal Newman lived.

He founded the Birmingham Oratory and was known for his work with the poor.

He converted to Catholicism in 1845 and died in 1890.

'Strong possibility'

The BBC understands the Pope will visit in 2010 but this has not been officially confirmed by the Vatican.

The last papal visit to the UK was by John Paul II in 1982.

An invitation was extended to Pope Benedict by Prime Minister Gordon Brown during a private audience in February.

Father Stock said: "If the Pope were indeed to come next autumn, and it would coincide with the time that's being possibly scheduled for the beatification of Cardinal Newman, there is a strong possibility he would come if it was at the same time.

"For the beatification of saints now... they take place locally generally in the country and the diocese in which the saint lived, so for Cardinal Newman that would be Birmingham."

The BBC's Robert Piggott has said the Pope is believed to have a particular interest in Cardinal Newman.

Pope Benedict approved as a miracle the cure of a US Roman Catholic deacon from a crippling spinal disease.

Deacon Jack Sullivan said he became completely free of pain after praying to Cardinal Newman in 2001.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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The Holy Father made a very special appeal to all who, he said, are called to the noble vocation of politics. He urged them to have courage and to face up to their responsibilities.

The challenge is ever timely and relevant not just for politicians, for all leaders.

The cause of peace, reconciliation and justice will always require the courage to adopt policies that promote the genuine common good.

(Cardinal Seán Brady)

We stand on Holy Ground. We stand on the spot where, thirty years ago, the successor of Peter, Pope John Paul II, described his joy at following in the footsteps of Patrick who came to the nearby Hill of Slane to light the first Paschal Fire in Ireland. It was my great privilege to accompany the Holy Father here to Drogheda. We came by helicopter. After seeing the huge crowds in the Phoenix Park, I was thrilled to see that there was another huge crowd here in Drogheda. They were well catered for, thanks to the excellent organisation which had been carried out by the Committee led by Bishop James Lennon.

The Holy Father took on an immense day’s work that particular day. He left Vatican City very early, went to Rome airport, arrived at Dublin Airport, went from there to the Nunciature; to the Phoenix Park; down to Drogheda; back to Dublin; toured the streets of Dublin; visited Áras an Uachtaráin and had a couple of other meetings.

The end result was that the man didn’t get sitting down to his dinner until after midnight. He said: “The Irish are trying to kill me on the first day”. Yes, indeed, we did try to kill him with meetings and travel and speeches and ceremonies. But that was the kind of man Pope John Paul was. He never said “no”. He came to Ireland en route to the USA and the United Nations. He was very sorry he didn’t get to Northern Ireland, especially as the other Church Leaders had joined Cardinal Ó Fiaich in inviting him there.

Here in Drogheda the Pope said: ‘‘I desire to visit those places in Ireland where the power of God and the action of the Holy Spirit had been especially manifested.”

I would like you to think a little bit about that. This is one of those places in Ireland where the power of God and the action of the Holy Spirit have been especially manifested. Now, of course, we all know Drogheda is a special place and that Drogheda people are special people. But it is nice to know that this has always been the case. It is good to know that others, including the Pope, have noticed this also. Why did the Pope come to this conclusion? He was well aware, I suppose, that Patrick had to pass Drogheda on the way to Slane. On the Hill of Slane, Patrick; “for the first time in Ireland, lit the Paschal Fire, so that the light of Christ might shine forth on all of Ireland and unite all its people in the love of the one Jesus Christ”. Drogheda welcomed Patrick, as later it would welcome Malachy, Oliver Plunkett, Mother Mary Martin and many others down through the years. Here Pope John Paul prayed: “May the light of Christ – the light of faith – continue always to shine out from Ireland”.

While in Ireland, the Pope reminded us powerfully of the challenge of remaining faithful in the midst of change. From his landing on Irish soil to the last minutes before his departure, Pope John Paul II acknowledged the outstanding fidelity of the Irish people to the Christian faith. After kissing the ground at Dublin Airport, he spoke of his gratitude “for the glorious contribution made by Ireland over the centuries to the spreading of the faith.” As he departed from Shannon Airport he repeated those famous and important words – Ireland Semper fidelis! Ireland – always faithful.

Yet in reminding us of our heroic fidelity he conveyed a prophetic sense of anticipation that Ireland was about to enter one of its most challenging periods since the time of Patrick. In the opening words of the homily of his first Mass in the Phoenix Park in Dublin he spoke of how “Ireland, that has overcome so many difficult moments in her history, is being challenged in a new way today, for she is not immune from the influence of ideologies and trends which present day civilisation and progress carry with them.” He spoke of the capability of mass media to bring into our homes a “new kind of confrontation with values and trends that up until now have been alien to Irish society.” He spoke of the danger of a pervading materialism bringing new forms of slavery and an “aggressiveness that spares no one.” He also said that “the most sacred principles, which were the sure guides for the behaviour of individuals and society, are being hollowed-out by false pretences concerning freedom, the sacredness of life, the indissolubility of marriage, the true sense of human sexuality, the right attitude towards the material goods that progress has to offer.”

Looking back we can now appreciate just how prophetic these words were. They were summed up in Pope John Paul II’s often quoted sermon from his final Mass of the visit in Limerick. It was here he said: “Ireland is at the point of decision in her history…. Ireland must choose. You the present generation of Irish people must decide; your choice must be clear and your decision firm. But let us never forget – Ireland has overcome many difficult moments in her history. Ireland can, and will, with the help of God, overcome those difficulties again.”

Pope John Paul went on to talk about St. Oliver Plunkett and his canonisation which he attended in 1975 at the invitation of his friend, the late Cardinal Conway.

When he spoke at Drogheda, Pope John Paul gave a powerful message about peace and reconciliation. It was not to be just any peace and reconciliation, but a peace based on justice. He turned to four specific groups of people to deliver what he asked.

1. He spoke to the men and women of violence – especially the young men and women of violence.

2. He spoke to fathers and mothers.

3. He appealed to leaders – especially political leaders.

4. He spoke to Catholics and Protestants.

Let us recall what was asked and then we can see what was given in response.

To the first group he said – “On my knees, I beg you to turn away from the paths of violence and to return to the ways of peace”. Remember this was 1979 – the end of the first decade of the Troubles – the most bloody and violent decade of all.

It was into this context of fear and almost despair that the Apostle of Peace spoke his often quoted passionate pleading – “You must know” he said, “that there is a political, peaceful way to justice”. Thirty years later we have seen what was almost unimaginable then. Almost all the paramilitary organisations have decommissioned, others are in the process of doing so. We have the Assembly – where politicians work together in a power-sharing executive. Today we give thanks to God for all of this.

And yet, because we still have a small, but determined group, determined apparently to carry on the fight – I want to make my own the words which Pope John Paul addressed to young people on this spot: “I say to you, with all the love I have for you, with all the trust I have in young people, do not listen to voices which speak the language of hatred, revenge, retaliation. Do not follow any leaders who train you in ways of inflicting death. Love life- respect life - in yourselves and in others. Give yourselves to the service of life, not of death” I beg all of you here today to pray that this appeal will be heeded.

Next the Pope spoke to fathers and mothers saying, “Teach your children how to forgive. Make your homes places of love and forgiveness. Make your streets and neighbourhoods centres of peace and reconciliation”. Here is the recipe for a secure and harmonious future, not just in politics but in personal and domestic life also.

There have been some good initiatives. I remember meeting a group some years ago, led by the Mayor of Drogheda, which included pupils from St. Joseph’s CBS who were on a visit to a school in Ballyclare, County Antrim. Of course there have also been the developments at the site of the Battle of the Boyne which have been warmly welcomed also.

These are the kind of efforts which the Holy Father had in mind when he said: “Never think you are betraying your own community by seeking to understand and respect and accept those of a different tradition”. We need lots of those initiatives.

All the people in positions of leadership and all members of political parties and all who support them were encouraged to make a special effort. They were told that they would serve their own tradition best by working for reconciliation with others. I think that the St. Oliver Plunkett Peace Group, ably led by Tony Burns, have risen magnificently to the challenge.

The Holy Father made a very special appeal to all who, he said, are called to the noble vocation of politics. He urged them to have courage and to face up to their responsibilities. The challenge is ever timely and relevant not just for politicians, for all leaders. The cause of peace, reconciliation and justice will always require the courage to adopt policies that promote the genuine common good.

Finally, the Pilgrim of Peace turned to Catholics and Protestants saying: “My message is one of peace and love. May no Irish Protestant think that the Pope is an enemy, a danger or threat. My desire is that instead Protestants would see in me a friend and a brother in Christ”. Again it is timely to recall those words in a week when some here have tried to drum up opposition to a possible Papal visit. “Let history record” the Pope concluded: “That at a difficult moment in the experience of the people of Ireland, the Bishop of Rome set foot in your land, that he was with you and prayed with you for peace and reconciliation for the victory of justice and love over hatred and violence”.

A recent piece of research here in the Republic has shown that there has been a dramatic drop in support for Christian Church Unity in principle over recent years.

This has to be disappointing when we consider what Pope John Paul II said here thirty years ago. Speaking of the invitations to visit Northern Ireland he said they were “an indication of the fact that the Second Vatican Council is achieving its work and that we are meeting with our fellow Christians of other Churches”. However, I believe the situation is not as bleak as the perceptions revealed by the Report. Slow but solid progress has been made.

The research referred to, was carried out by Father Michéal McGréil, SJ and goes on to say that “The scandal of Church division puts people off the Christian Faith while evidence of Church Unity would make it authentic and attractive. A revival of the ecumenical movement is called for from the findings of this Report”.

What we have to ask ourselves now is:

How is the Power of God being shown here and now in Drogheda?

Where is the Holy Spirit at work?

How are you and I co-operating or maybe not co-operating with the Holy Spirit here and now?

Ireland is once again at a moment of decision, a time of choice. Let us ask Our Lady, “Queen of Peace and Queen of Ireland”, to help the pilgrim Church – that is – all the people who profess their faith in His son – to say ‘Yes’ once again – as she did with such serenity and fidelity – to Him who is the way, the truth and the life – both now and forever.

AMEN+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Comments of Most Rev Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of Ireland, at the official opening and belssing of a complex of 37 homes for older people in Malahide, Co. Dublin on Sunday 27 September.

The homes were built and are managed by the St Benedict's Conference of Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP).

The scriptures have always looked on a long life as a special blessing from God. I believe that we can say – at least in the Western world – that longevity is a special gift of God to our generation. I do not like to hear people talking about the “problem” of an aging population. If you start talking in those terms then very easily, unawares to ourselves, we can begin to look at elderly people as problems, rather than as people who have given enormous gifts to society over a number of generations, who have still today so much to offer today and who as their strengths fail should be gladly helped to live the fullest life possible for the longest period possible.

As ageing becomes a characteristic of our society we have an obligation to ensure that those who have created the good things that we enjoy today are enabled to enjoy their latter years happily and fulfilled. We all owe it to them.

It is great to be here on what - if it were not Sunday - would be celebrated at the Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul. This celebration recognises a remarkable blend of goodness and good citizenship. It was a local resident, Josephine Denning, who wished that her house and the land around it would be used to provide housing for the elderly. This has now become a reality through the cooperation of Canon Randles, of the Dublin Diocese, of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society and Fingal County Council and of other public authorities.

It would be too simplistic to describe Saint Benedict's as just housing for the elderly. Saint Benedict’s is more than just a roof: it has been very brilliantly created to generate the sense of being a real home and a real community. The building stands not in the model of institutional isolation that was characteristic of establishments of the past, but right in the heart of the community. I congratulate the architect and the builders and the crafts people for the realisation of such an imaginative project. I congratulate the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul for this inspiring, timely and truly creative initiative.

Thank God that here in Ireland we have generated over the years remarkably good public services for the elderly in their own homes, which have brought to so many older people the joy of being able to stay in their home and in their familiar surrounding for many years. So many health and support services have been provided to make this possible. It is a credit to our nation.

Should economic cut backs begin in one way or another to weaken the quality of this home-based service or even demolish it, then our society would have to face a real challenge in our care for the elderly. There are too few alternatives available. Caring for the elderly must involve a package of various alternatives to respond to various needs. Institutionalisation should only enter the scene when it is the best option, and never the first option. Ireland has had a sad story of institutions, and our elderly deserve to receive the benefits of the wealth which they themselves fought for and contributed to.

The Gospel reading we have heard speaks of compassion. Compassion is an important word in the scriptures. You will remember that it appears in story of the Good Samaritan, who had compassion on the poor man wounded on the roadside. It is not just that he had compassion, but what changed the Good Samaritan and made him different from the Priest and the Levite who passed by on the other side of the road was compassion. Without compassion any person and any society will fall into the same trap of thinking first of self and not wanting to take on the discomfort or the burden of seeing that others are cared for. We can easily create a world around us where we are all too busy to be compassionate.

The Good Samaritan had compassion for someone who he had never known; nor do we know anything about that injured man – no name, nationality, identity or personal history. It was enough that he was a man, a human person in need. And that compassion was not just emotion: the Samaritan saw him, recognised his need, carried him, bound his wounds, and went on to pay for his care in the inn and even called on his return to see that he had been returned to ordinary life.

Compassion in the New Testament has another and a special meaning. Where we hear the word compassion it means Jesus himself, who is the revelation of the loving kindness of God and who cares for each of us: who sees us, recognises our needs, carries us, and binds up our wounds and who accompanies us at every stage of the journey of our lives. We pray that these walls will be an oasis of compassion for those who dwell here, for those who work here and for the community which surrounds and embraces Saint Benedict’s for many years to come.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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Rural Ireland will be devastated if proposed Government cuts go ahead, a leading campaigner-priest has warned.

Fr Harry Bohan, Director of the Céifin Centre for values-led change and a leading voice in rural Ireland, also said that farmers are experiencing a ''horrific'' time as a result of falling prices.

''It's horrific for farm families,'' Fr Bohan told The Irish Catholic. ''It's now costing more to produce food than farmers can ever hope to get paid for it.

''The impact of that on rural communities is enormous. A lot of young farmers are going to get out of grain and milk production altogether. As a result we could be in a position where we have to start importing grain.

''The family farm is the backbone of rural communities, there are a lot of commuters in rural areas, but at the end of the day it is the farm family that keeps the community together.

''Farmers and their families are key to what a rural community is all about,'' he said. Fr Bohan rejected the findings of the controversial McCarthy Report which proposed cuts of up to €300m in rural areas.

''While we continue to talk about all the other major issues, like the banks and the recession, I'm not hearing enough about the impact of these things on community life in a rural area,'' he said. ''This is because rural communities do not get enough attention. Rural Garda stations, rural post offices and rural transport schemes are all set to be cut dramatically, leading to further isolation of people in rural communities.

''If the cutbacks go ahead as proposed it will be devastating,'' he told The Irish Catholic.

The annual Céifin Conference this year will address the theme of 'Leadership'.

Religious education must change and the catechetical programme in schools will need to be reassessed in the light of cultural change, the Archbishop of Dublin has stated.

Speaking at the Schools Mass for the new term in the Church of the Holy Redeemer in Bray, Co. Wicklow Dr Martin said that one of the reasons why religious education must change is ''that we have at times inherited and preached a false God...a harsh judgmental God''. ''We need to recover the true sense of a God who is love.''

He added: ''Catholic education is about preparing people for life. It is about the bond between faith and life, between faith and culture. Our catechetical programme needs to be reassessed in this light.''

Dr Martin also called for a ''creative balance'' in educational planning between pragmatism and idealism and that ''we have to be especially cautious in ensuring that the talent of those young people, who find themselves today economically disadvantaged, is not held hostage to purely economic decisions in such a way as to create long term damage for them''.

While admitting that there are demographic changes he said, ''this does not mean that there is a automatically widespread demand for a totally secular form of education''.

He added: ''Freedom of religion in the educational field was a hard-fought-for right. Ireland is now more secularised but its religious heritage is still very much alive, even for those who are unhappy with it.''

The archbishop said these are challenging times for education.

''We are facing a ground-breaking rethink regarding the ethos-mix of schooling in Ireland and we have to ensure that we get it right, through carefully listening to the various stakeholders and fully respecting the various traditions present in society''.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, delivered a speech on September 8 discussing how to advance the culture of life in the U.S. and how to rectify the “scandal” of publicly known Catholics who confuse and distort Church teaching.

At the 14th Annual Partnership Dinner of InsideCatholic.com, Archbishop Burke said that those who have publicly espoused and cooperated in gravely sinful acts lead people into confusion and error about “fundamental questions.”

Just as their dissent was public, their repentance must also be public.

“The person in question bears a heavy responsibility for the grave scandal which he has caused. The responsibility is especially heavy for political leaders,” the archbishop added.

Repairing the damage done by such scandal “begins with the public acknowledgment of his own error and the public declaration of his adherence to the moral law. The soul which recognizes the gravity of what he has done will, in fact, understand immediately the need to make public reparation,” Archbishop Burke said.

Particular harm is done by those who profess Christianity but promote policies and laws which “permit the destruction of innocent and defenseless human life” and “violate the integrity of marriage in the family,” he said.

The result of these actions is that citizens are confused and “led into error” about basic moral tenets.

Catholics who contribute to that confusion cause the “gravest harm” to their Christian brethren and also to the whole nation, Burke added.

“In our time, there is a great hesitation to speak about scandal, as if, in some way, it is only a phenomenon among persons of small or unenlightened mind, and, therefore, a tool of such persons to condemn others rashly and wrongly,” he observed.

In the archbishop’s view, it is ironic that those who experience scandal at the “gravely sinful” public actions of a fellow Catholic are accused of “a lack of charity” and of causing division within the Church.

“Lying or failing to tell the truth, however, is never a sign of charity. A unity which is not founded on the truth of the moral law is not the unity of the Church. The Church's unity is founded on speaking the truth with love,” he remarked.

The contrary attitude is characteristic of a society governed by the “tyranny of relativism,” one in which “political correctness and human respect” are the ultimate criteria, he said, warning that Catholics’ consciences have become “dulled to the gravity of certain moral issues.”

Archbishop Burke explained that the disciplines of the Church are not a judgment on the eternal salvation of someone’s soul but are “simply the acknowledgment of an objective truth… that the public actions of the soul are in violation of the moral law, to his own grave harm and to the grave harm of all who are confused or led into error by his actions.

For the archbishop, it seemed clear that the inspiration for the founding of the United States came from “a declared faith in God and in the inalienable rights with which He has endowed man.”

“To deny the Christian foundation of the life of our nation is to deny our very history,” he added, later saying that it is a “false notion” that a Christian or any person of faith must “bracket his faith life from his political life” in order to be a true American citizen.

This habit is not true to the founding principles of the U.S. government, the archbishop stated.

“What kind of government would require that its citizens and political leaders act without reference to the fundamental requirements of the moral law?” he asked rhetorically.

When Christians fail to articulate and uphold the “natural moral law,” Archbishop Burke added, they fail in their fundamental patriotic duty to love their country by serving the common good.

“Christian love does not have its foundation in blind tolerance of others and of what they think and say and do, but rather in the profound knowledge of others and their beliefs, and the honest acknowledgment of differences of belief, especially in what may compromise the life of the nation.”

Archbishop Burke's full speech can be read on InsideCatholic.com. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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Pope Benedict XVI said this past weekend that while he has not yet fully recovered from the broken wrist he suffered over the summer, he has been working on the second part of his book on Jesus and that he could complete it by the Spring of 2010.

During a press conference on the way to Prague, the Holy Father told reporters, “The right hand works, and I can do the essential things: I can eat, and above all, I can write. My thought is developed mainly through writing; so for me it was really a burden, a school of patience, not to be able to write for six weeks.”

However, he continued, “I was able to work, to read, to do other things, and I also made a little bit of progress with the book. But I still have much to do. I think that, with the bibliography and everything that is still to be done, 'Deo adjuvante,' it could be finished next spring. But this is a hope!”

Caritas in Veritate

Responding to a question about the impact of his latest encyclical “Caritas in Veritate,” Pope Benedict XVI said, “I am very content that this serious discussion is taking place. This was the aim: to provide incentives and reasons for a discussion on these problems, not to leave things be as they are, but to find new models for a responsible economy, both in individual countries and for the totality of humanity as a whole.”

“It seems to me,” he went on, “that it has really become clear today that ethics is not something outside of the economy, which could work mechanically on its own, but is an inner principle of the economy, which does not work if it does not take into account the human values of solidarity, of reciprocal responsibilities, if it does not integrate ethics into the construction of the economy itself: this is the great challenge of this moment.”

The Holy Father said he was confident that the encyclical “contributed to this challenge.”

“The debate underway seems encouraging to me. Of course, we want to continue to respond to the challenges of the moment, and to help make the sense of responsibility stronger than the desire for profit, responsibility toward others stronger than egoism; in this sense, we want to contribute to a humane economy in the future as well,” Pope Benedict said.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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A Catholic organisation in the diocese of Derry has strongly criticised the diocese for imposing a hike in parish collections without any prior consultation.

Mass goers in the Derry diocese will be hit with an additional 3% levy on parish collections, a hike that was controversially withdrawn in 2005 after protests that the extra money was being used to compensate victims of clerical child sexual abuse through the Stewardship Trust Fund.

In a statement issued this week Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) accused the diocese of, “behaving recklessly in raising the diocesan levy without prior warning or explanation. Far from restoring trust, this manner of proceeding can only seriously further undermine the trust that needs to exist between their bishop and his people."

The statement called for "complete transparency and accountability" in relation to diocesan finances.

"Otherwise the suspicion must remain that compensation has been paid in consequence of clerical sexual abuse in the diocese, without the consultation that was promised in 2005. At the very least the bishop should be ready to confirm that this has not happened since he made that promise in 2005."

In a statement issued on behalf of the Bishop Hegarty this week the diocese said that, "The increase in levy on parish income arises from increasing costs borne by the diocese and is not linked to the Stewardship Trust Fund.

The diocese is obliged to pay the costs associated with providing services at diocesan level, many of which are directly availed of by parishes.

The increase in levy is not linked to any special fund, diocesan or national, for compensation arising from child sexual abuse allegations.

The size of levy increase is due to a prudent assessment of costs associated with running the diocese.”+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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A former missionary priest has been appointed parish priest in one of the country’s biggest parishes.

The Right Rev. Monsignor Enda Lloyd, who is a native of Cormac Street, Tullamore, was installed last week as Parish Priest of Holy Redeemer Church, Bray, Co. Wicklow by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.

Previously, Monsignor Lloyd served as Parish Priest of Greystones and as a curate in various parishes in the Dublin Archdiocese.

Prior to his time in Greystones, Fr Enda spent 9 years working with the Columban Order on the missions in Santiago, Chile.

He thoroughly enjoyed his time there and he has returned on a few occasions to maintain his friendship with former parishioners.

Shortly after his appointment to Greystones, Fr Enda was made an Episcopal Vicar for the Archdiocese. In this capacity, he carries out the functions of a bishop in a part of the Archdiocese.

He is now looking forward to engaging with the parish of Holy Redeemer and his friends wish him well in his new appointment.

Fr Enda was a former pupil of the Convent School and St. Columba's primary and secondary schools in Tullamore. He entered Clonliffe College, Dublin in 1960 and spent four years of his student preparation for the priesthood in Rome, where he was ordained in December 1966.

He is the son of the late Patrick and Bríd Lloyd of Cormac Street, Tullamore.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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A group upset with a plan to close 50 Catholic churches in northeast Ohio appealed today for the appointment of a bishop to oversee the work of Bishop Richard Lennon.

Peter Borre, representing the group Endangered Catholics, went to the Congregation for Bishops in Rome but was told to file the appeal with the papal envoy in Washington, D.C., for possible forwarding to the Vatican.

Borre said by phone from Rome that he had seen to it that the paperwork was immediately sent to Washington.

Borre said getting the Vatican to name an overseer "is a real long shot because the Catholic Church is not a democracy. It’s a hierarchy and it’s very rare the people from the pews can overturn bishops."

But he said a recent example occurred with last month’s resignation of Scranton, Pa., Bishop Joseph Martino, who had been criticized for an autocratic management style. Martino, 63, said he was retiring for health reasons.

Borre said his group had complained to the Vatican about Martino last winter.

The papal envoy’s office in Washington referred questions to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which did not immediately return a message.

Church law allows for the appointment of a supervising bishop when the diocesan bishop is seen as incompetent.

Lennon, who became bishop of Cleveland three years ago after directing church closings in Boston, announced the downsizing plan in March. Many old, inner-city parishes have shrunk as the population of Cleveland has decreased.

Lennon issued a statement asking for patience amid the reconfiguration.

"It is my prayer that these members of our diocese will take the time and exercise prayerful patience to better understand what our clustering and reconfiguration plan is designed to achieve, a stronger and more vibrant church," he said.

Lennon said the downsizing emerged from five years of planning and said church law was followed.

Lennon has presided on nearly a weekly basis at final Masses at the affected churches and will continue to so into 2010, along with dedicating parishes created through mergers, diocese spokesman Bob Tayek said Thursday.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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Organized religion was already in trouble before the fall of 2008. Denominations were stagnating or shrinking, and congregations across faith groups were fretting about their finances.

The Great Recession made things worse.

It's further drained the financial resources of many congregations, seminaries and religious day schools.

Some congregations have disappeared and schools have been closed.

In areas hit hardest by the recession, worshippers have moved away to find jobs, leaving those who remain to minister to communities struggling with rising home foreclosures, unemployment and uncertainty.

Religion has a long history of drawing hope out of suffering, but there's little good news emerging from the recession. Long after the economy improves, the changes made today will have a profound effect on how people practice their faith, where they turn for help in times of stress and how they pass their beliefs to their children.

"In 2010, I think we're going to see 10 or 15 percent of congregations saying they're in serious financial trouble," says David Roozen, a lead researcher for the Faith Communities Today multi-faith survey, which measures congregational health annually. "With around 320,000 or 350,000 congregations, that's a hell of a lot of them."

The sense of community that holds together religious groups is broken when large numbers of people move to find work or if a ministry is forced to close.

"I'm really still in the mourning process," says Eve Fein, former head of the now-shuttered Morasha Jewish Day School in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.

The school, a center of religious life for students and their parents, had been relying on a sale of some of its property to stay afloat but land values dropped, forcing Morasha to shut down in June.

"I don't think any of us who were in it have really recovered," Fein says. "The school was 23 years old. I raised my kids there."

The news isn't uniformly bad. Communities in some areas are still moving ahead with plans for new congregations, schools and ministries, religious leaders say.

And many congregations say they found a renewed sense of purpose helping their suffering neighbors. Houses of worship became centers of support for the unemployed. Some congregants increased donations. At RockHarbor church in Costa Mesa, Calif., members responded so generously to word of a budget deficit that the church ended the fiscal year with a surplus.

"We're all a little dumbfounded," says Bryan Wilkins, the church business director. "We were hearing lots of stories about people being laid off, struggling financially and losing homes. It's truly amazing."

In the Great Depression, one of the bigger impacts was the loss of Jewish religious schools, which are key to continuing the faith from one generation to the next. Jonathan Sarna, a Brandeis University historian and author of "American Judaism," says enrollment in Jewish schools plummeted in some cities and many young Jews of that period didn't have a chance to study their religion.

Today, some parents, regardless of faith, can no longer afford the thousands of dollars in tuition it costs to send a child to a religious day school. Church officials fear these parents won't re-endroll their kids if family finances improve because it might be disruptive once they've settled into a new school.

Enrollment in one group of 120 Jewish community day schools is down by about 7 percent this academic year, according to Marc Kramer, executive director of RAVSAK, a network of the schools. A few schools lost as many as 30 percent of their students. Many of the hundreds of other Jewish day schools, which are affiliated with Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements, are also in a financial crunch.

Kramer says 2009-10 will be a "make or break" year for Jewish education, partly because of the additional damage to endowments and donors from Bernard Madoff's colossal fraud.

Overall, U.S. Jewish groups are estimated to have lost about one-quarter of their wealth.

"It's going to be painful," Kramer says. "There will be some losses."

The Association for Christian Schools International, which represents about 3,800 private schools, says enrollment is down nationally by nearly 5 percent. About 200 Christian schools closed or merged in the last academic year, 50 more than the year before.

At least 80 members of the Association of Theological Schools, which represents graduate schools in North America, have seen their endowments drop by 20 percent or more.

The National Catholic Education Association is still measuring the toll on its schools, but expects grim news from the hardest hit states, after years of declining enrollment.

"Some schools that were on the brink — this whole recession has just intensified that," says Karen Ristau, president of the association.

Clergy in different communities say worship attendance has increased with people seeking comfort through difficult times, although no one is predicting a nationwide religious revival.

Americans for years have been moving away from belonging to a denomination and toward a general spirituality that may or may not involve regular churchgoing.

The 2008 American Religious Identification Survey found more people who call themselves "nondenominational Christians" and rising numbers who say they have no religion at all.

Before the stock market tanked last fall, only 19 percent of U.S. congregations described their finances as excellent, down from 31 percent in 2000, according to the 2008 Faith Communities Today poll.

Because of these trends, mainline Protestants were among the most vulnerable to the downturn. Their denominations had been losing members for decades and had been dividing over how they should interpret what the Bible says on gay relationships and other issues. National churches had been relying on endowments to help with operating costs, along with the generosity of an aging membership that had been giving in amounts large enough to mostly make up for departed brethren.

The meltdown destroyed that financial buffer.

The Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church and other mainline denominations were forced to cut jobs and their national budgets.

The damage was felt across Methodist life. As of the summer, more than half of the church's 62 U.S. regional districts, or annual conferences, reported they had budget deficits. Some sold property and buildings to continue their ministries.

Two national Methodist boards cut more than 90 jobs. Fifty bishops took a voluntary pay cut. Annual conferences in hard-hit regions, such as Florida and Ohio, lost thousands of members as people moved to find work elsewhere.

"Many of these groups have such large endowments that they're not going away," Roozen says. "But I think there's no question that they're going to be smaller both as organizations and in membership."

Roman Catholic dioceses for years had been struggling with maintaining their aging churches, paying salaries and health insurance and funding settlements over clergy sex abuse. With the hit to investment income and a drop in donations, they are now freezing salaries, cutting ministries and staff.

The Archdiocese of Detroit, at the heart of the meltdown, had a $14 million shortfall in a $42 million budget in the fiscal year that ended in June 2008.

Conservative Protestant groups, known for their entrepreneurial spirit and evangelizing, were not immune. The 16.2 million-member Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant group in the country, has had budget cuts in its North American Mission Board, at least three of its six seminaries and in its publishing and research arm.

Religious leaders say the next year or so will be key in determining which organizations survive the downturn intact. Even if the recession ends soon, religious fundraisers say the angst donors feel will not lift immediately, prolonging the difficulties for congregations, schools and ministries.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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Confirming young people from the parish in the Bosnian town of Medjugorje, Bishop Ratko Peric of Mostar-Duvno asked them not to behave as if the alleged Marian apparitions reported in the parish were real.

In late September, the bishop posted on his diocesan Web site an Italian translation of his homily from the June confirmation Mass, as well as letters to the Franciscan pastor of the Medjugorje parish and to another priest serving there.

Bishop Peric had told the young people that, during a visit to the Vatican early in the year, the top officials at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Vatican Secretariat of State confirmed they were telling anyone who asked that the Catholic Church has never recognized the alleged apparitions as authentic.

"Brothers and sisters, let us not act as if these 'apparitions' were recognized and worthy of faith," the bishop said in the homily he gave June 6.

"If, as Catholics, devoted sons and daughters of the church, we want to live according to the norms and the teaching of the church, glorifying the Holy Trinity, venerating Blessed Mary ... and professing all the church has established in the creed, we do not turn to certain alternative 'apparitions' or 'messages' to which the church has not attributed any supernatural character," Bishop Peric said.

After the confirmation Mass in Medjugorje, the bishop also made a pastoral visit to the parish and published the follow-up letters he had written to Franciscan Father Petar Vlasic, the pastor, and to Franciscan Father Danko Perutina, one of the parochial vicars.

The bishop praised Father Vlasic for the way he was handling what he called "the Medjugorje phenomenon," which began in 1981 when six young people -- Mirjana Dragicevic, Marija Pavlovic, Vicka Ivankovic, Ivan Dragicevic, Ivanka Ivankovic and Jakov Colo -- said they had seen Mary on a hillside near their town. Several of them say they continue to see Mary and receive messages from her.

In his letter, the bishop reaffirmed that priests from outside the parish cannot give conferences or lead retreats at the parish without written permission from his office and that no one can use parish facilities to promote the alleged apparitions or messages. The bishop specified that the pastor should ensure that Father Perutina stop offering comments on the messages Pavlovic claims to receive on the 25th of each month.

He also asked Father Vlasic to remove from the parish Web site all references to the parish and its church buildings as a shrine or sanctuary and to ban prayers allegedly dictated by Mary or suggested by her alleged messages from liturgies and prayer services inside the church, including public recitations of the rosary.

"We have enough official ecclesiastical intentions (pontifical, episcopal, missionary, etc.) and there is no need to turn arbitrarily to the presumed apparitions and messages and mix them with the public prayers of the church," he said.

In his letter to Father Perutina, who was assigned to the Medjugorje parish after completing a degree in Mariology at a pontifical university in Rome, Bishop Peric said he did not understand why the priest was publishing a commentary on the monthly message Pavlovic claims to receive.

"Gradually we have been able to distance the 'apparitions' and 'messages' from the parish church and church environs," the bishop said, but the fact that a Franciscan from the parish is commenting on the messages creates confusion.

"These are private messages to private people for private use," he said, ordering the Franciscan to cease commenting on or publicizing them in any way.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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Colombia's Catholic Church acknowledged that difficulties have arisen regarding the ongoing release process of two hostages, reported news station Caracol Radio on Monday.

According to the leader, the release of soldiers Pablo Emilio Moncayo and Jose Daniel Calvo has encountered problems, because the Government wants the FARC to commit to the release of all their 24 political hostages, while the FARC wants the government to release jailed rebels in exchange.

A spokesperson for the Church stated that "from the start, the government made a condition which declared that it would only release the two soldiers if the FARC agreed to hand over the 24 hostages."

The Church, together with opposition Senator Piedad Cordoba and the Red Cross are in charge of the process that should lead to the release of rebel hostages.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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Save us, O Lord, save us all. Save us from the Pope. Joseph Ratzinger is coming to Britain.

Gordon Brown is "delighted".

David Cameron is "delighted".

I am "repelled".

Let him come; I applaud freedom of speech. But no red carpets, please. No biscuits. No Queen.

In his actions on child abuse and Aids, Joseph Ratzinger has colluded in the protection of paedophiles and the deaths of millions of Africans.

As Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Pope John Paul II's chief enforcer), it was Ratzinger's job to investigate the child abuse scandal that plagued the Catholic church for decades. And how did he do it?

In May 2001 he wrote a confidential letter to Catholic bishops, ordering them not to notify the police – or anyone else – about the allegations, on pain of excommunication. He referred to a previous (confidential) Vatican document that ordered that investigations should be handled "in the most secretive way . . . restrained by a perpetual silence".

Excommunication is a joke to me, perhaps to you, but to a Catholic it means exclusion and perhaps hellfire – for trying to protect a child. Well, God is love.

He also waved aside calls to discipline Marcial Maciel Degollado, the Mexican founder of the global Legion of Christ movement. Allegations of child abuse have stalked Maciel since the 1970s.

His victims petitioned Ratzinger, only for his secretary to inform them the matter was closed.

"One can't put on trial such a close friend of the Pope as Marcial Maciel," Ratzinger said. Two abuse victims sued him personally for obstruction of justice, but he claimed diplomatic immunity.

Eventually, when the allegations could no longer be denied, Ratzinger apologised, and sent Maciel off "to a life of prayer and penitence". Why not prison? He didn't say. "It is a great suffering for the church . . . and for me personally," was Ratzinger's comment about the wider child abuse scandal. Great suffering? I thought to be raped as a child was great suffering. To be exposed as complicit in a cover-up is surely merely . . . embarrassing?

Ratzinger added that he believed the Catholic church had been the victim of a "planned" media campaign. By whom? By gays? By Jews? By Jedi? He instructed that prayers be said in perpetuity for the victims – thanks, I feel better now! – along with a push to ensure that men "with deep-seated homosexual tendencies" do not enter the priesthood, thereby turning all responsibility for the scandal into – the laps of the evil gays!

Ratzinger is also active in the suppression of Liberation Theology, a Latin American movement that insists that social justice is the central purpose of Christianity; that good Catholics should also be political activists who fight for the rights of the slum-living poor. Ratzinger was repelled, and dismissed it as "a fundamental threat to the faith of the Church".

And so to the church's own holocaust – in Africa. Condoms can protect Africans from Aids. But who can protect them from Ratzinger? The Catholic church has long pursued a no-condoms policy.

In El Salvador the church got a law passed, ensuring that condoms were only sold with a warning stating they did not protect the user from Aids. In Kenya, Cardinal Maurice Otunga staged public burnings of condoms.

The former Archbishop of Nairobi, Raphael Ndingi Mwana a'Nzeki told his flock that condoms, far from protecting them, contribute to the spread of the disease. Well, God is love.

Some local priests in Africa counsel contraception, because they care about their parishioners. But the Vatican, on its Roman cloud, disagrees. Aids, Ratzinger says, "cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems".

That is a lie. Not a fantasy, like the virgin birth and all the other magical, mystical nonsense, but a dangerous lie.

There are, Your Holiness, more than 12 million Aids orphans in Africa. Twenty-two million Africans have Aids and the UN fears that eventually 90 million could die.

Ratzinger presides over a church that calls homosexuality "a deviation, an irregularity, a wound".

Catholic reformers have tried to liberalise this view but Ratzinger slapped them down. In a 1986 letter, he complained that, "Even within the Church, [people] are bringing enormous pressure to bear . . . to accept the homosexual condition as though it were not disordered." He added that homosexuality is "an intrinsic moral evil".

Care to know the suicide statistics for teenage gays, Your Holiness? They are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual fellows. In 1998, a 39-year-old gay man called Alfredo Ormando set fire to himself in St Peter's Square, in protest at your policies. He died.

Ratzinger is no better on women; he opposes women priests, of course, and demands the criminilisation of abortion even for women who have been raped or are very sick; gin and wire coathangers, anyone? His friend, the theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg, has said that Ratzinger sees the push for female priests as driven by "spokeswomen for radical feminists, especially lesbians".

So this is the man who is coming to lecture us about morality.

Welcome, Benedict XVI, Episcopus Romae, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God. Don't tread on the corpses.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Disclaimer

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